First came The Winter Classic and HBO cameras everywhere. The hype surrounding the game. The game being played in difficult circumstances.

Thrilling. Exciting. A dream come true for hockey fans and players alike? Absolutely. Yet, from a competitive standpoint, a disadvantage in the bigger picture.

Now, here come the Olympic Games. The good news for the Red Wings: They have 10 players selected to compete in Sochi, along with Mike Babcock, who is sitting on the hot seat as Canada’s Olympic coach.

The bad news: The Red Wings have 10 players selected to compete in Sochi.

It is the ultimate good-news, bad-news tale for an NHL squad. It can’t be a bad team if there are 10 players represented at the Olympics, but while most of the league is resting for a playoff push, the majority of Red Wings will be playing. And then, upon return, the Red Wings will be asked to ratchet up their collective game to make the playoffs for the 23rd straight season, which is anything but a given at this stage.

Oh, then there is the matter of the schedule leading to the Olympics. It’s very difficult, and could provide the key to the Red Wings’ season.

The Red Wings have road trips to the New York Rangers and Philadelphia (both teams have gotten hot), and Washington and Tampa Bay before the Olympics.

The Red Wings’ home games figure to be as or more difficult than the road trips – vs. Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington, Montreal and Vancouver. There are no lay ups in there, except for perhaps a road trip to Florida. It is the Red Wings’ last game before the Olympic break.

The Red Wings have been living on borrowed time. Their move to the Eastern Conference has been a life line. It allowed them to lose night after night in overtime or via the shootout, and still feel pretty good about themselves in the standings. It’s allowed them to overcome an inordinate number of injuries and play poor hockey at Joe Louis Arena, and still feel OK.

But the chickens will come home to roost if the Red Wings don’t find a way to improve.

Goalie Jimmy Howard hasn’t been himself all season. Henrik Zetterberg and Paval Datsyuk are the resident stars, and Johan Franzen their best natural goal scorer, and Darren Helm Detroit’s fastest skater. They have all been in and out of the lineup because of injuries.

The Red Wings have done a nice job of procuring young talent (Tomas Tatar in particular), and it has helped, but there is virtually no margin for error remaining. Red Wings’ general manager Ken Holland’s decision to essentially replace one free agent, Valtteri Filppula, with another similarly priced, Stephen Weiss, has backfired. Weiss has been injured and unproductive, while Filppula is having a breakout season as a goal scorer with Tampa Bay (18 goals in 45 games). Adding salt to that wound, Tampa Bay is one of the Red Wings’ primary rivals for a spot in the playoffs.

The glass half-full suggests the Red Wings should count their lucky stars. They still would have made the playoffs if the season ended Sunday night following a 1-0 loss at Anaheim, but by a single point.

There is a log jam in front in front and behind the Red Wings in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Winter Classic was outstanding. The NHL’s participation in the Olympic is terrific.